Gas Lighting

This is a picture of a very old plastic water bottle that had been sitting in a hot car. Something someone left and didn’t care to pick up. But you can’t really tell that can you?

It looks very interesting. It doesn’t look like something to be thrown away. It’s really all about perspective.

Wikipedia defines gaslighting as “a form of mental abuse in which information is twisted or spun, selectively omitted to favor the abuser, or false information is presented with the intent of making victims doubt their own memory, perception, and sanity”

It’s about twisting perception so that the victim can’t justify their emotions.

It’s about ensuring that the abuser retains control by imposing their reality on the victim.

Gaslighting is extremely damaging and all too prevalent. It is used too often to force people to accept what they’re told, to believe that what they feel and say is irrelevant due to a diagnosis, to invalidate our stories as the words of the “insane”. We’re not insane.

We’re only presenting our sliver of reality. In a sense, although not emotional abuse, this photo employs the techniques of gas lighting to trick the viewer.

This isn’t trash, it’s gold.

— Kelsey